


Washed Up

by doctorandmein221b



Category: Homestuck
Genre: I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, Merman!Karkat, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-04 12:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,117
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4136730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorandmein221b/pseuds/doctorandmein221b
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John never expected an earthquake to hit his town. He didn't expect the tsunami that followed. And he definitely didn't expect the merman the waves left behind.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Look What Washed Up

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo I may be avoiding my other fic for just a little bit. Writers block and such. So, here's this. I may have a thing for mermaid fics. I will not apologize.  
> I wrote this because, I don't know why, but I like the concept of mermaid au's plus my family just watched San Andreas at the movies and I got inspiration. Bu this one's a lot of fun to write, and I really like it. It's probably only going to end up being around two or three chapters, but I may or may not make it a series. I'm not sure yet.

            John mindlessly tapped the end of his pen against his desk at home. He tried to focus on the math problems sitting in front of him, but god he hated math and he had other things on his mind. He had only gotten through all of two problems, and his brain already felt fried. It wasn’t that he was bad at math; it just that it bored him to tears.

            He exhaled loudly and pushed himself backwards from his desk, his rolling chair carrying him across his room. He decided to give the homework a rest for now. He got up from the chair and flopped unceremoniously onto the bed, his face buried in the cool fabric of his pillow. For a moment he simply laid there, until his stomach gurgled in protest and forced him to get up and head to the kitchen.

            He poured himself a glass of water and tossed a piece of bread in the toaster. While he waited for his toast, he looked out his large kitchen window. The sky outside was a bright orange, with trails of pink and red streaking through it like an oil painting. The sun sank behind the shadows of the mountains, slowly turning day into night. From his window he could see Lake Onada’s rippling waves in the distance.

            Lake Onada was ridiculously huge. When you stood on the shore and looked out, you couldn’t even see the other side. The water stretched on as far as the eye could see. To someone who didn’t know it was merely a vast lake it would appear to be an ocean.

            John enjoyed looking out at the dusk sky and soon forgot about the food he had been making. When the toaster popped up with a startling clang he nearly jumped a foot in the air and yelped. His Prankster’s Gambit was going to take a devastating hit for that one.

            John took a drink out of his water and set it down next to him, then snatched his hot toast and quickly spread some butter on it. He was just about to abscond back up to his room when he heard a light clinking. Turning around, he noticed that the water in his cup looked like it was dancing: bouncing up and down to the point where it sloshed out over the edge and onto the counter. John’s brain quickly registered what was happening and he sprinted to his dining room table, hastily sliding underneath it for cover.

           Moments after he made it to shelter, the ground below him jolted and shook. His cup of water plummeted from the counter and shattered against the ground, shards of glass ricocheting of the tiled floor and flying in every direction.

            The floor beneath John shifted suddenly, knocking him into one of the legs of the table. Glass from the cup pelted and dug into his left arm. Furniture in the room was being displaced from its’ original location, picture frames fell from the walls and crashed to the ground, and anything on shelves was doing the same. John gripped tightly to the legs of the table, doing his best to ignore the sting coming from his arm.

            As suddenly as it had come, the earthquake left, leaving a bleeding John thoroughly shaken underneath his dining room table. He didn’t dare get up from his spot, knowing that there very well could be aftershocks. Or, even worse, that what he experienced could have been only a foreshock and the bigger earthquake was yet to come. So he remained there for a little over ten minutes, quietly examining his injured arm.

            After he was sure that the Earth was done shaking, he got up and walked to the bathroom where he began nursing his arm. The glass littered his upper arm, most of the shattered pieces small, but a few were a bit larger. He gently picked the out the shards with tweezers, being especially careful with the bigger pieces. Luckily for him none of the shards had cut that deep and he didn’t have to go to the ER. He cleaned the cuts with rubbing alcohol, then wrapped the injury with gauze.

           Satisfied with his work, he left the bathroom to assess the damage to the house. The earthquake hadn’t brought any of the ceiling plaster down, but it had knocked everything off the walls and all the furniture was about a foot from where it was supposed to be.

“This is going to take forever to clean up,” John muttered to himself. He began sliding the furniture to the right places and putting picture frames back up on the walls, placing the ones with cracked or shattered glass in a pile on the counter. He’d have his Dad fix those when he came back from his trip with Jade.

           When he went to pull out a broom from the cupboard, his foot fell into a puddle of water. John instantly assumed it was from his spilt glass earlier, but when he looked down at it he noticed the puddle trailed from the crack at the bottom of his front door. Water was spilling from the side and bottom cracks about a foot up, and John’s eyes widened. He ran to the back door, opened it, and whistled, relieved when Becquerel jogged over from his spot next to the in-ground pool in John’s backyard.  Water spilled over the concrete edge and was filling the pool, meaning John would have to completely empty it out and refill it to remove the murky lake water. John ruffled the fluffy hair on Bec’s head and called him inside the house. He then bolted up the stairs, the big canine following behind him with what looked like a happy grin on his face. John ran into his room, closed the door with a slam, and pulled open the curtains to his window. Sure enough, about five feet of water flowed down the streets and was seeping into the bottom story of his house.

           John grabbed his TV remote and hurriedly flipped to the local news channel. A woman with short blonde hair wearing a suit was reporting on the situation, her eyes flashing with concern underneath the professional mask. She was midsentence when John turned on the television.

           “…just experienced a 6.1 earthquake about fifteen minutes ago. The earthquake was centered about a mile below the waters of Lake Onada, the force of the quake sending a tidal wave from the lake crashing into town, spawning a mini tsunami approximately fifteen feet high. Though no one has been reported being on the shore when the first wave hit, we do not know for sure. Luckily, the waves caused by the tremor did not destroy any major buildings; however wooden sheds and smaller structures have been damaged. Young trees have been uprooted as well. The streets are now flooded and witnesses report seeing animals swept away with the rush of water. Hopefully we can recover lost items once the waters recede. We urge anyone in a one story building to evacuate immediately, as we don’t yet know how high the waters will rise, making small houses susceptible to damage and the residents inside at risk of drowning. Two deaths have been attributed to this incident. Thus far there have been no aftershocks.”

           John’s mouth hung open. He didn’t even know tsunamis could occur in lakes, let alone that it would happen in his town. First an earthquake, then a mini tsunami, he was just having a really crappy day. He continued to watch the news report until his cell phone suddenly rang, drawing his attention back to reality.

           He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and looked at the caller ID. A smile grew on his face as he swiped “answer.”

           “Hey Jade!” he greeted his sister. She and Dad were in Utah visiting friends. They’d been gone for about three days, leaving sixteen year-old John home by himself. It obviously wasn’t going well.

“John! Dad and I were watching the news and heard about the earthquake, and the flood, and I was really worried so I called. Are you alright?” Jade’s voice was laced with concern.

           “Yeah, I’m okay, the earthquake just knocked some stuff off the walls and when water started to trickle into the house I called Bec inside and headed upstairs just in case. We’re okay, but the house is a mess.”

           “Thank god,” she sighed out in relief. She paused. “Dad and I are cutting our trip short and are heading home immediately. We’ll be home hopefully in about two or three days. Please be safe.”

           “Don’t worry, I will. I’m going to keep Bec with me in my room till the water levels drop, so you don’t have to worry about your only friend,” he teased, lightning up the mood.

           Jade laughed before saying, “Hey! I have friends, jerk!”

           “Keep telling yourself that.”

           “Whatever! Anyways, either Dad or I will be calling later to make sure you’re still alright. See you in a couple days, John. Be careful.”

           “Bye Jade! And I will.” he replied. The line went dead as she hung up the phone. John was still smiling, talking to his sister improving his mood immensely.

            He shoved his phone back into his pocket and took another glance at the water outside. Its flow had slowed and it was only about one or two feet deep now, but it was still there. The worst of the disaster appeared to be over. His eyes trailed over the scene outside. The flow of water carried a lot of debris, as well as random items, down the street. John spotted a child’s bicycle, a tire, a wooden rocking chair, some socks, and, to his horror and dismay, a living cat. John was about to freak and jump out his bedroom window to go rescue the feline when it crawled on top of the rocking chair and used it the jump onto the window seal of a nearby house. It shook itself off and sat down, nonchalantly beginning to lick its paws. John let out the breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding. He watched it for a minute more to make sure it was alright before turning away from the window and flopping onto his bed.

           Bec saw this as an opportunity to jump on John’s chest and lick his face, making John laugh and attempt to lightly push the dog’s muzzle away. Bec did not allow this and completely put his weight on top of John, immobilizing him. John let out a cry of defeat and began scratching the canine’s stomach. Bec rolled onto his back to be pet more but John jumped up from the bed, escaping his captor. He then laughed and pet Bec, giving in to his dog’s puppy eyes.

 

           After about a half hour the water reduced to nothing. John again gazed out his window, and now that the only water left was in large puddles, debris was randomly scattered about town in odd clumps. There was a park bench on John’s driveway now, placed there by the heavy flow of water. John thought it was a nice addition to his yard.

           He decided that he wanted to go out and see what was happening for himself now that the water was gone, so he pulled on his boots and slipped on a jacket. He left his room, closing the door behind him to make sure Bec didn’t get out. He hopped down the stairs and grimaced when he hit the bottom floor. His house was a mess. The first floor was still submerged in about three inches of water, making it feel like John was stepping in one giant indoor puddle. Water drip from about three feet up the wall, and some of the wallpaper had begun peeling off. John hurried out the front door, not even wanting to know about the rest of the damage the water had caused.

           Outside the summer sky was a deep blue, it was about 8:30 pm and it would be dark very soon. John couldn’t stay out there long. He nodded his head at the new park bench that was lying on its side and jogged to the street.

           He looked at the neighbor’s house and raised his eyebrows. There was a dead fish in the middle of their driveway. It looked like a koi; it was about a foot long and was surprisingly large. John hadn’t even considered all the fish that must have been washed inland due to the flood. He tipped his head to the side and frowned. _Poor thing,_ he thought.

           He turned away from the corpse of the fish and continued on his walk. It was starting to get dark; John would have to turn back soon. He decided he’d give himself five more minutes. Down the road a little ways, John could make out another large pile of rubble and wood. As he got closer, his heart dropped. Even from this distance he could make out the torso and head of a person buried under the wood. John’s breath caught in his throat and he burst out in a sprint towards the pile of debris.

            John made it to the mound and was faced with the body of a young boy about his age. He was buried from the waist down, he must’ve been outside when the tsunami hit and was swept away with the wreckage. His skin was deathly pale and his arms lay limp by his head. He had pitch black hair that was still soaking wet, dripping onto the concrete below him. His mouth was open slightly and John was confused when he saw the teenager had incredibly sharp teeth. John shook his head, it was quite dark outside now and he assumed he had just seen them wrong.

           He reached his hand to the boy’s neck, just to be sure, and checked his pulse. John gasped when he felt a small flutter of a heartbeat underneath his fingertips.

            They boy was still alive.

            John began working to remove the debris burying the boy. He was sure to be extra careful to remove heavier pieces since he didn’t know what injuries the teen had sustained. He finally pulled a large plank off the boy’s bottom half and John’s eye’s widened.

            “What the hell…?” John muttered in dismay.

            The boy had a tail.

            He didn’t have legs, but a scaly, fish tail. John could not believe his eyes. The boy was a merman.

            Well, more like a mer-boy. He was actually pretty small.

           The scales shone in different shades of red, starting crimson at the hips and slowly glowing brighter as they went down, the fins ending in a bright cherry color.

           John didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t call the police because they’d think he was just making stuff up and screwing with him. He continued to stare at the unconscious mer-boy.

            _God dammit,_ he thought to himself, deciding on what to do. He leaned over and scooped the boy up, one arm behind his back and one underneath his tail. Even though they looked about the same age, the mer-boy was smaller than John: he was thin and his arms did not have a lot of muscle. The boy was limp in his arms, and John hoped he would wake up soon.

           He rushed back to his house with the mer-boy in his arms, luckily it was dark now and hopefully no one saw him and his interesting companion. When he got home he went into the backyard and gently set the boy on the grass, scanning over him to make sure he wasn’t injured anywhere. He noticed a gash midway down the boy’s tail and got his first aid kit inside. He cleaned the injury and wrapped it in thick gauze. When he finished he went to the front yard, dragged the park bench to the back and set it near the pool. His backyard was fenced with thick wood so that the neighbors couldn’t see in, so he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone accidentally spotting the mer-boy.

           John carefully picked up the boy and dipped him into the shallow end of the pool. He still looked like he was breathing just fine, even underwater, so John assumed he’d be okay.

           John sat on the park bench the flood had brought him and watched over the mer-boy in his pool until his eyes could no longer stay open and he fell asleep slumped against the arm rest of the park bench.


	2. Waking Up

            Lake Onada was very calm that day. There weren’t any waves; just gentle water lapping against the shore line. A young man jumped from the docks onto the boat tied to one of the posts. He set his equipment down on an ice chest sitting on the deck and then began working on releasing the boat. He undid the knot from the thick rope holding the boat to the dock and sat down at the wheel. He started the engine and pulled away from shore, steering the motor boat towards deeper waters. The boat sped across the water, creating waves behind it that showed where it’d been.

            He was determined today. He had been searching for about a year now, and he was going to find what he had seen that spring day last year. He couldn’t get it out of his head.

            He stopped the boat two miles off shore and dropped the weight he used as an anchor into the deep water below. He removed his glasses and moved away from the steering wheel and stepped onto the deck. He pulled on his scuba equipment and oxygen tank, then, making sure everything was secured properly, he dove into the murky depths surrounding his boat.

            His adventure starts now.

            The water was pitch black, even though he was only about ten feet under. He unclipped his flashlight from his belt and turned it on, illuminating a small funnel of the darkness in front of him. He dove deeper into the lake, leaving the surface and his boat far behind him.

            He was about a hundred feet down when he saw a flicker of movement to his left. He turned, trying to determine what had just sped past him. He shone the light in that direction and saw nothing. He figured it was just a fish and turned back around. All he could see when he spun back was two large eyes.

           If it wasn’t for the mouthpiece, he would’ve screamed.

           About an inch from his nose was a female face, curiously looking at him. Her rust colored eyes had black slits instead of rounded pupils like normal, almost like a cat’s. Her black hair billowed behind her elegantly and framed her pale gray face. She smiled at him, revealing sharp teeth that could easily shred through flesh. The most astonishing part was her tail. Instead of legs she had a beautiful tail highlighted with rust red scales. The fin flicked slightly, keeping the girl afloat.

           He’d found her. He knew he hadn’t made her up. The mermaid he saw while boating with his boyfriend last year.

           He went to reach for his camera, but before he grabbed it he noticed something else moving from behind the mermaid. She turned around with a slight frown as another one of her kind swam to her slowly, stopping about fifteen feet away.

           This one was what the diver assumed was a boy; he didn’t know exactly how merpeople’s genders worked. The merboy had a tail with scales in different shades of yellow, ranging from mustard to gold colored. He had sharp teeth as well, but his looked more like fangs that hung over his bottom lip. His eyes were stunning, one was red and the other was blue, making it look like he was wearing old 3D glasses. He glared menacingly at the diver, his body poised for attack. The mermaid quickly swam over to him and made a noise that sounded like a chirp, and he crossed his arm against his chest. He then growled and rolled his eyes.

           The mermaid looked back the diver, smiled, and waved. She then took the hand of the merboy and with a quick flick of her tail they sped off through the water.

           The diver wanted to follow them, but in his heavy gear he couldn’t even hope to reach the speed they swam at. So he merely floated there, completely astounded. After they disappeared from sight he hurried back up to the surface, kicking his legs as hard as he could. He lifted himself back into the boat, stripped off his diving gear, and zipped back to shore. He tied his boat back to the dock and hopped out, not caring about his abandoned equipment at the moment.

           He ran down the dock until he made it to a small bench resting against the wooden railing. Sitting on the bench was a young man the same age as him. he wore a set of pointed anime shades that always hid his eyes and had bright blonde hair that was swept back neatly. He noticed the diver and raised his head.

           “How’d it go?” He said to the diver, who was panting heavily and looked like he had seen a ghost. The young man raised an eyebrow. “Whoa, okay, calm down Jake. What happened?”

           “Dirk, Dirk I saw it. I saw her today,” Jake wheezed.

           Dirk looked surprised for a second, but his cool façade crept back on his face almost immediately. “Did you get any pictures?”

           “Blasted!” Jake cried, throwing his hand to his face. He bit his lip. “I got distracted by the merman that swam up behind the first one. They bolted off before I could get any pictures.”

           Dirk just sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Course they did.”

 

           __________________________________

 

           The merman’s eyes narrowed as he got closer to his prey, he was only about seven feet behind it now, and his body was hidden by a large rock that rose from the sea floor. The cat fish, completely unaware of the hunter stalking close behind it, swam nonchalantly in the deep water ahead.

            He hated that he was the one put on food duty that day, it was a pain. Hunting down larger fish to feed to the others always took hours. But if he wanted food tomorrow, he’d have to do his part today.

           The merman slouched into a pounce position, his bright red tail curling up, ready to go full speed. He burst from his hiding spot with a strong flick of his tail and caught the large cat fish in his claws. He then sank his sharp teeth into it, and it thrashed in his hands, only making the merman’s claws dig deeper into its flesh. He quickly put the fish out of its misery and began swimming back towards his home. He had gone a long ways out that day and it would take him a lot longer to get back than usual.

           He was about halfway there when strong vibrations start to spread through his body, and a low roar filled his ears. He bared his teeth and looked up towards the surface, expecting to see a large fishing boat speeding across the water above. When he saw nothing there, his confusion grew. The roar rose till it was nearly deafening and the merman hissed through clenched teeth. Glancing around, he noticed clouds of sand rising from the lake bottom and masses fish bolting into deeper waters. His ears dropped and a low growl filled his throat. He sped after them, figuring that shallow water was not the place to be at the moment.

           The intense vibrating didn’t last long and soon everything was calm again. The merman was very puzzled, nothing like this had ever happened before. He started to head back to the path home, carrying the cat fish in one clawed hand. Somehow he had managed not to drop it. It took him about four minutes to get back to where he was when the vibrating occured. After another five minutes of fast swimming, he was almost home.

           His eyes widened as he got hit with a strong current of water from the center of the lake, and his world was turned upside down multiple times when it pushed him off towards the shore. The cat fish was ripped out of his hand and his side was pounded by water. He tried to steady himself and escape the powerful rush of water, but it continued to flip him, making his head split with a growing head ache. He couldn’t see anything anymore, just blurs of color splashed everywhere like an abstract painting. The wave began rising from the water as it neared the shore, which slowed it down. He tried to escape while it decelerated, but his head still reeled and his vision tipped. The small tsunami reached the land and crashed to the shore, bringing the helpless merman with it.

 

           When the merman regained consciousness, he didn’t open his eyes. He quietly assessed his situation. The water in his mouth tasted funny, it was like the water he had always lived in, but mixed with something else, some type of chemical. There was some sort of fabric wrapped around the middle of his tail, and when he did a small flick of his tail pain rang out from that area. He was injured. Gathering up his courage, he opened his eyes.

           He was in a water-filled area, but it wasn’t the lake. In fact, it had concrete walls and didn’t go very deep at all, maybe six feet. The water was murky and had stuff like leaves and sticks floating in it. The merman slowly lifted his head above the surface and looked about him. Trees and small bushes were lined up against a wooden fence that enclosed the small yard, and a bench was sitting precariously close to the edge of the water. The merman nearly choked on the water when he saw what was on it.

           A human boy was sleeping soundly on the armrest of the bench. The boy’s black hair was ruffled untidily and his glasses were askew on his face. He had two dull teeth that hung over his lip a little, kind of like a beaver. The merman stared at him for good five minutes.

           The boy shifted his body a little and his eyelid slid open. Fear ran through the merman like a sharp chill. The human was waking up.

 

 _______________________________________

 

           John groggily opened his eyes and yawned. For a moment he was confused- why was he sleeping on a park bench in his backyard? - and then he remembered what had happened the night before. He sat up with a start and looked at his pool. Sure enough, a very angry looking merboy was glaring at John, his sharp teeth bared.

           In the light John could make out more of the merboy’s features. His skin wasn’t as pale as he thought when he found him, but more of a gray. His frail arms were thin as well as his chest but the claws that tipped his fingers made up for that. His wet black hair curled slightly at the bottom, his bangs stuck to his forehead, and water dripping down from the ends. He had a tiny button nose and lips a shade of black. Gills stretched like cuts down the side of his chest, stopping right above his tail, pulsing slightly as he breathed. His tail shimmered in the morning light, each scale looking like a fresh blood drop. What John found stunning was his eyes. When he rescued the merboy he couldn’t see his them, but now that he was awake John could see his eyes perfectly. The black pupils were slitted and what should have been the whites of his eyes were a murky yellow. The irises were a deep crimson like someone had painted them with blood. Even though the merboy snarled angrily, when John looked into his eyes he could see the panic hidden behind the burning rage.

           The merboy growled and dipped the bottom half of his head under the water. John sunk to his knees slowly so as not to frighten him.

           “Hey, it’s okay, I’m not going to harm you,” he told the merboy with a gentle smile, not really knowing whether or not merpeople even spoke English. All that earned him was an angry snarl. “You were washed up after the tsunami and I found you under a pile of debris. You were injured, so I brought you here and patched you up.”

           The merboy’s eyes widened slightly, glancing down at the gauze on his tail, and then quickly resumed their glare. John noticed this, and leaned forward a little bit.

           “Do you… have a name?” He asked quietly. The merboy growled again and dipped his head completely under water and dove to the bottom deep end, submerging his entire body in the murky water. John sighed, and then smiled, suddenly determined to befriend the grumpy merboy. He sat back on the bench and waited.

           The merman didn’t know how to feel about this. The human had woken up and promised him no harm, told him that the tsunami left him stranded on land. He thought of what would have happened if the human hadn’t found him. He’d probably be dead.

           When the human asked him if he had a name with his stupid buck teethed smile, the merboy just dove under the water. He definitely did not trust the human yet. Humans in general were not to be trusted. But the boy had an air of sincerity about him that even the merboy couldn’t deny, which just frustrated the hell out of him. From under the water he glared at the human, trying to decide what to do. The boy just calmly sat on his bench, giving him his space.

           The merboy grumbled to himself and after ten minutes popped his eyes and ears above the water, continuing to glare at the human. The boy’s face lit up with a goofy grin.

           “Hey!” he said with a smile, “I realized that I never properly introduced myself. My name’s John, John Egbert!”

           The merboy’s glare softened into something more of a cautious curiosity. He whispered to himself, “John” quietly enough that the boy- er, John, couldn’t hear him.

           “I actually don’t even know if merpeople can talk, let alone understand English. But, I’m still going to talk to you anyways,” John continued. The merboy scoffed under his breath and rolled his eyes.

           John talked to the merboy for hours straight, his smile never faltering and his stories completely pointless. The merboy’s fear quickly melted, his glare lessening into a look of annoyance as John rambled.

           “..and Jade’s my sister. She’s so awesome, you’d love her. Right now she out of state with my dad, but she’s going to be back in a couple days. Let’s hope you’re back in the lake by then, I don’t think my dad would be happy to find a merman in his pool. Actually, scratch that, he’d probably say he’s proud of me for saving a mythical creature and tell me I’ve become a real man,” John laughed. The merboy sighed, finally giving in and deciding to answer the question John had asked hours ago.

           “Karkat,” he said.

           “What?” John asked, eyes wide.

           “My name. It’s Karkat Vantas,” Karkat grumbled.

           “So you can speak English! And Karkat? That is such a cool name, I’ve never heard anything like it! Do all merpeople have names like that? Karkat, Karkat, Karkat…”

           “John, calm the fuck down,” Karkat splashed him in the face with his hand.

           “Hey!” John shouted with a laugh and Karkat’s frown twitched upward a little. John lunged at him and Karkat smirked, ducking under the water. John tripped on the concrete and feel backwards into the deep end of the pool. Karkat held back a laugh, little bubbles escaping his mouth. John kicked off the bottom of the pool, bursting up until his head was above water. Karkat followed behind him, appearing right next to John.

           John let out a yelp of surprise and then giggled. “Not cool, Karkat.”

           “Hey, you brought that upon yourself,” he shrugged. John laughed and crawled out of the pool. He sat dripping wet on the bench, creating a small puddle underneath him.

           “I blame you,” he pointed at the merboy, who just casually floated on his back, his tail lightly flicking the water. “Well, I’m going to go get a change of clothes since these are soaked, thanks to you, and I kinda skipped lunch so I am really hungry,” he paused. “What do you eat? I mean, you’ve been out for half a day, you must be hungry. You live in a lake, and you have really, really sharp teeth as well as claws so I’m assuming fish?”

           Karkat nodded.

           “Alright, I’ll see what I can find,” John turned towards the sliding glass doors. He opened up the door and walked inside. The house was still a disaster. He hadn’t cleaned everything from the earthquake, only the stuff in the living room and kitchen, and there was nothing he could do about the water damage at the moment.

           He remembered Bec and grabbed a can of dog food, then climbed up the stairs to his room. When he opened the door Becquerel leaped onto him, licking his face.

           “Hey Bec,” John ruffled the dog’s soft fur. He opened the can of dog food and poured it into a bowl that he retrieved from Jade’s bedroom. The big dog bounded to the bowl a happy grin stretching across his face. While Bec was distracted by the food, John changed out of his wet clothes and into a clean T-shirt and a pair of shorts. He took a towel and dried his hair to the best of his ability and ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, leaving his bedroom door open. He opened the fridge and cursed under his breath. The water must have shorted out the power outlet, the inside of the fridge was room temperature and the light wouldn’t turn on. He crouched down to get a better look at the outlet on the wall, the lines inside seemed to be dry, and John hoped that it was safe to turn them back on.

           He unlocked his front door and strode to the breaker box outside, opening it up and flipping the switches on. Running a hand through his hair, he closed the box and headed back indoors. When he got inside he face palmed himself. He really should have closed his bedroom door.

           Becquerel had left John’s room, he had probably needed to go to the bathroom since he’d been stuck up there all night, and was now standing at the sliding glass door, barking and howling at the merman outside. Karkat was glaring at dog from the edge the pool and growling right back at him, his teeth bared and eyes furious. John threw his head back and groaned.

           “Becquerel, stop barking at Karkat,” John shouted, tugging at the dog’s collar. Becquerel stopped barking, but a low rumble could still be heard from his chest. “God dammit.”

           He took Bec to the front yard and let him use the restroom, and then locked the dog back up in his bedroom. He plodded down the stairs and grabbed some fish from his freezer that luckily hadn’t spoiled when the fridge turned off and left out the back door to where Karkat was. The merboy looked up expectantly and John held up the fish and smiled. He tossed it at Karkat who caught it effortlessly and began gnawing on it.

           John suppressed a giggle, the merboy was just looked so tiny in his large pool, and Karkat had this satisfied look on his face that John found kind of adorable. He didn’t expect something that could gouge out his eyes and fillet his entrails with ease to look so cute. Karkat looked up from his fish as he noticed John staring and raised an eyebrow.

           “What?” he asked unenthusiastically, taking a moment to pause his fish eating.

           “Nothing,” John stammered. “Is the fish good? I think its salmon or something.”

           “Yeah it’s good, idiot,” Karkat answered turning his attention back to the salmon. He paused. “Thank you, by the way. For rescuing me.”

           John beamed, “Of course!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo-hoo John's breaking Karkat's grumpy bubble!  
> I really like this fic guys.


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